


after the rain (comes the rainbow)

by kaeda



Series: Beyond the Storm [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Family, Fluff, Grey Jedi Pupils, Hux Hates Democracy, Hux is Done with everything, Interrupted Kissing, M/M, Ridiculousness, Skywalker Family Drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-30 03:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6407725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeda/pseuds/kaeda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“No,” Hux said immediately.</p>
<p>Ben frowned. “I didn’t even finish my story.”</p>
<p>“You were about to ask if your family could come here for vacation,” Hux replied. “Solo, I know you well enough by now to know where you’re going with a meandering story about how much Rey wants a beach getaway.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	after the rain (comes the rainbow)

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will make no sense unless you read the first work in this series, [Beyond the Storm](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6151048/chapters/14093221).
> 
> Don't ask why the title is a Matt the Radar Technician joke; I just thought it fit well with the "storm" theme and couldn't resist.
> 
> Special thanks, as always, to my amazing friend Cooper who has been my cheerleader while I fell into the Kylo Ren/Hux dumpster head-first.

“No,” Hux said immediately.

Ben frowned. “I didn’t even finish my story.”

“You were about to ask if your family could come here for vacation,” Hux replied. “Solo, I know you well enough by now to know where you’re going with a meandering story about how much Rey wants a beach getaway.” He frowned into his dinner.

Around the table, Kalla, Bran, and Mazhi continued to eat their dinner unfazed, completely used to arguments between the two of them.

“You don’t have to be here,” Ben informed him. “You could go hang out at Karrde’s cantina in Skylarville, rent some rooms with your friends.” He crossed his arms across his chest, stubborn. The teenagers glanced back and forth between them like they were spectators at a ping-pong match. “I already told Rey they were welcome. They don’t even have to stay in the house; there are plenty of rooms in the annex where the kids sleep.”

Hux was clearly unhappy. “And who exactly does ‘they’ consist of?” he asked. He glanced at the teenagers, who quickly went back to scarfing down their food and pretending they weren’t listening to the conversation.

“My uncle, Rey, and my mother,” Ben told him. “Surely we can accommodate three people for five days or so?”

“Three people, yes. Three members of your family?” Hux raised his eyebrows and sighed. “Can we somehow ensure that they don’t destroy the planet while they’re here?” It was quite a hypocritical statement; the only person who had ever actually destroyed a planet was sitting right there at that table and was really only a Skywalker by…partnership, or whatever they were.

“It’ll be fine,” said Ben. “What can go wrong?”

Hux sputtered.

* * *

In the end, Hux did not decide to retreat to Skylarville after all. “Someone has to keep an eye on this place,” he’d muttered, grabbing an entire bottle of wine and locking himself in their room. 

The apprentices were also less than excited about the visit. “What about our lessons?” Kalla demanded. She’d become the de facto leader of the teenagers, on account of being the oldest and also the first to come to Ben’s gray Jedi training center. Bran, a young human male with more recklessness than sense, had immediately adopted her as an older sister upon arrival, while Mazhi, an older teenage human girl from Coruscant, had held herself more aloof from the others.

They all had various demons in their pasts and presents that made them more susceptible to anger, impulsiveness, and wanting easy solutions to their problems – ideal candidates for the dark side. Ben hadn’t really expected any of his gray Jedi apprentices to get along with one another, so the camaraderie between the three was surprising and a little alarming. He hoped that someday they wouldn’t all attempt to take over the galaxy.

“Your lessons will be taken care of,” Ben promised her. “Master Skywalker and Rey will be good for you to practice with. You can show them the progress you’ve all made.”

“Skywalker is scared of us,” Mazhi told him seriously. “There’s a reason he sent us to you.”

“It will be fine,” Ben assured them all, wondering why everyone around him was so angry and distrustful all the time. “Luke isn’t scared of you; he just knew that I could serve your particular needs in the Force better than he can. He only knows the light side – because he’s never touched the dark side, not truly, he can’t imagine that it’s not as seductive and overpowering as his teachers taught him. Luke thinks the moment you touch the dark side, you’re lost forever. I know, and you all know from working with me, that that’s not true.” He shrugged. “I think he will be proud of you.”

Kalla began to grin wickedly, which was never a good indicator. “Can we bring them up north and make them fight us under the influence of the ysalamiri?”

“No,” Ben said immediately.

Of course, once Kalla got going, Bran always followed. “Can we at least have them duel us? Just for practice?” He beamed at Ben with his angelic face, using his childish looks to maximum advantage as usual. Ben had nightmares about that innocent look and what it usually meant for his property values.

“Master Skywalker and Rey are coming here for vacation,” Ben told his apprentices. “We’re not going to put them through any physical or psychological torture while they’re here.” The disappointed looks on Bran and Kalla’s faces made him wonder if perhaps he wasn’t doing as good a job in stressing the light side of the Force in their training; Mazhi was still serious and expressionless, like always.

Ben sent the kids on a scavenger hunt in the jungle using the Force to locate different types of poisonous plants and bring them back, retreating back into the house, where Hux was seated at the kitchen table reading his data pad and drinking from a huge mug of caf.

“Rey called us on the comm,” he said, clearly attempting to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. The Force told Ben that he was almost…anxious. “Your family is in orbit and will be landing here in about two standard hours.” Hux took a giant gulp of his caf and continued to read on his data pad like he hadn’t said anything.

Ben walked over behind him and curled his arms around Hux’s shoulders, peering at the data pad. Currently on the screen was Hux’s favorite source of anti-Republic gossip, some news rag that was published in the Outer Rim by remnants of the Empire.

“Are you okay?” Ben asked.

“According to this, your real father was Supreme Leader Snoke,” Hux replied instead of answering. “Did you know he was having an affair with your mother during the Rebellion?”

Ben rolled his eyes. “That stupid thing has accused me of being fathered by everyone from my uncle to a Mon Calamari to my uncle Lando. I still don’t know why you subscribe to it.”

“Sometimes there’s useful intelligence buried beneath reports of lovechildren and affairs,” Hux replied in a deadpan, as though he refused to acknowledge how ridiculous it was. “For example, the Republic Senate is on the verge of a vote of no-confidence in the current leadership, although none of the news sources will talk about it except for this one.” He shook the data pad firmly. “Maybe the Republic will destroy itself even without our help.”

“After all, democracy is ultimately flawed,” Ben said, parroting one of Hux’s favorite rants. He leaned in further and pressed his mouth against Hux’s ear, and Hux shivered next to him.

“Ben,” he snapped. “Stop. Your family will be here soon.”

“There’s plenty of time,” Ben murmured right against Hux’s skin, causing a dark flush to make its way down the back of his neck. “We can be quick unless you start talking about how much you hate democracy in the middle of it.”

“That was _one time_ ,” said Hux, who was already putting his data pad down and rising from his chair.

“It certainly taught me to stop leaving the news on the holo while trying to fuck,” Ben said with a smirk.

“Shut up, Solo,” Hux growled, pushing him up against the kitchen wall. “If we really want to drag out embarrassing things that have happened during sex, I have quite an arsenal."

Ben smirked. “You could always shut me up,” he said. “I know you’re very good at that.” Hux leaned in and kissed him roughly, just as Ben had been hoping for, and he yanked Hux up against him, pressing their hips together and sucking on his lower lip.

“We’re here!” shouted Rey’s voice. “Ben where are---oh god.”

Ben reluctantly stopped kissing Hux, who stepped away from him and glanced at the entrance to the kitchen. Rey stood at the threshold with her face bright red. “Sorry!” she said. “I didn’t…we were given an earlier landing window than expected, so…here we are!”

“Force help us,” said Hux under his breath. Ben, still trying to calm himself down from their aborted attempt at making out, only tossed a slight glare in his direction.

“We thought you would be later,” he said instead, moving away from the wall and going to take Rey’s bag. “Can I show you to your rooms?” He felt supremely awkward having Rey present inside their house. He could sense his mother and Luke outside as well, two more people he wasn’t exactly thrilled to have around, and two other presences…Finn and Dameron, really? “You brought your friends?” Ben asked sourly.

“It’s a vacation!” Rey told him. “Wouldn’t you want your friends along if you went on vacation?”

“Solo doesn’t have friends,” Hux replied. “He literally has me, and I’m leaving him the moment something better comes along.”

“Oh right, I forgot who I was talking to,” Rey said, tossing a grin at Hux. “How are you, Brendol?”

Ben turned to stare at Hux and then looked back at Rey, mouthing ‘Brendol?’

“As well as can be expected, considering I spend the entirety of my time with your cousin,” Hux replied as if this was perfectly normal.

“Hey,” said Ben.

“I used to be in your shoes,” Rey replied. “But I think he’s gotten better since then. Does he still do the sulky thing where he hides in his room in the dark and listens to music on his data pad?”

“Do you hear Luke?” Ben asked. “I think he just called us.” He quickly grabbed Rey by the arm and dragged her outside, tossing a glare at Hux as he left. Hux smirked back and Ben really regretted that they hadn’t had the opportunity to have sex before his family had shown up; now he was awkward and uncomfortable, like his skin didn’t fit right, and Force knew when they’d have another opportunity to be alone together.

“Where are your students?” Rey asked as they made their way back to the shuttle. Ben’s mother was staring out at the sea with a wistful expression on her face while Luke chatted with Dameron and Finn. “I expected they’d be here to meet us.”

“They’re in the jungle on a training exercise,” Ben told her. “They should be back before dinner.”

He walked over to his mother and stopped a few feet from her, eyeing her warily. Their relationship was slightly better than it had been a year before, but they were still awkward around one another and talked only rarely. “Mother,” he said.

She turned and smiled slightly at him. “Ben,” she replied softly. “You look well. This life agrees with you.”

Ben wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but he was proud that she could see that it suited him. “I’m doing my best to help these kids turn into Jedi instead of falling to the dark side,” he told her. “It feels in some way like I’m giving back.”

She smiled at him in earnest this time, maybe the first time he’d seen her smile in a long time, and walked forward to envelope him in a hug. “I know you won’t believe me when I say this, but I’m very proud of you.” Quieter, she added, “your father would have been too.”

Ben pulled away abruptly. “Let me show you to your quarters,” he said, picking up her bags and turning quickly so that she couldn’t see his face. “I’m putting you all in with the apprentices since we built space for up to ten trainees and we only have three at the moment.”

“How are they doing?” Luke asked, coming up to join them. “Hello, Ben.”

“Uncle,” Ben acknowledged. “They’re…progressing. I’m teaching them not to react to their anger, not to give in to instinct, and that being impulsive isn’t always the best option.”

“Good,” said Luke approvingly. “As I’d hoped you would.”

It might have been easier if his family had been less accepting and friendly and proud of him, Ben thought with annoyance. He didn’t know what to do with grace and good fortune. Couldn’t they just have avoided him while taking advantage of his fantastic beachside location?

“When can we go in the ocean?” Rey asked, appearing from the shuttle with more bags. “I’m so excited!”

“The ocean is literally right there,” Ben pointed out. “You can go in whenever you like.” 

“Thanks,” Rey said dryly. “I meant, do you have anything planned for us? Do we get a free afternoon? Does Brendol want to lecture your mom about how the Republic wastes resources again?”

“That was _one time_ ,” Ben said, feeling a vague sense of déjà vu. He stood stiffly next to them, still carrying their bags, which he lightened slightly using the Force since no one seemed inclined to go inside. “I haven’t made plans for anything. You’re free to do what you like.” Really, he just wanted to get them settled so that he could rejoin Hux and pretend this vacation wasn’t happening. Maybe the two of them could just lock themselves in their room until everyone else had left.

Luke spoke up. “Why don’t we let Ben show us to our rooms and then we can make a plan?” Ben had been trying to get them to do this for several minutes now, but of course, the moment _Luke_ suggested it, everyone was immediately on board with the plan.

Sighing, Ben led his family down to the training annex; it was going to be a long week.

* * *

After a year of living with Ben Solo, Hux had honestly expected to have more regrets about his choice. He’d been apprehensive about opening a Jedi school, but the children had been less annoying and idealistic than he’d been expecting, and Ben had even allowed Hux to teach them about mechanical engineering and military strategy. The eldest, Kalla, was downright devious, and Hux had high hopes that she would someday find a way to overthrow or revolutionize the outdated Republic system. 

Living by the beach had likewise not been as horrible as Hux had expected – he’d assumed it would result in constant sunburn, but Ben was adamant about wearing sun protection and hats, and policed Hux’s attire every time he stepped outside. Ben also enjoyed rubbing cream from some jungle plant on the few sunburns that Hux _did_ manage to acquire, which usually inevitably led to frantic making out and sex. (Many things in their life actually led to that, another fact which Hux wasn’t complaining about.)

No, the first real regret that Hux had about shacking up with Ben Solo came a year into their arrangement, and it was a regret that he’d never had the foresight to imagine: Skywalker family gatherings.

For example, Leia Organa was sitting at his kitchen table drinking a cup of tea and looking out at their spectacular ocean view. Through the transparisteel window, Hux could see Rey, Dameron, and the stormtrooper running back and forth and chasing the waves, while Skywalker laid out on the beach reading from a datapad. It would have been fine if Organa had been with them too, but instead, for some reason, _she was in his kitchen_.

He turned and was about to shuffle back into the bedroom, lock the door, and pretend this entire vacation wasn’t happening when Organa spoke. “Where’s Ben?”

Hux froze and glanced in her direction. She was still looking out the window, like he wasn’t there, but she was obviously speaking to him. Of course she’d have known he was there – she was Force-sensitive, just like her son. Hux mentally kicked himself for forgetting that and moved further into the kitchen.

“I don’t know,” he said. He was really unused to feeling awkward, but Ben’s family were somehow everything he hated and still had produced the one person who mattered to him in the universe. It left him confused, like maybe the black and white world he lived in was far grayer than he liked to imagine.

Organa closed her eyes and then opened them again, a small smile at the corner of her lips. “He’s with his students,” she said, her voice soft. “Going over what they found in the jungle.”

“He has them searching for poisonous plants,” Hux informed her. “It’s not _cute_.” Well, it was cute to him, but Organa certainly wouldn’t think so.

She continued to smile anyway. “He’s truly happy here, with you,” she said. For some reason, it felt almost like an insult.

Hux really did not want to continue this line of conversation. He boldly sat himself down in front of her, blocking her view of the window, and looked her in the eye. “Your Republic has a horrible policy on trade tariffs,” he said.

Her eyes narrowed. “Oh?”

“You allow free trade within the Republic, which simply creates more wealth amongst your own planets while increasing the tariffs coming from the Outer Rim sectors and sending them further into poverty. Your society is bloated and corrupt and doomed to failure.”

Organa raised one elegant eyebrow in his direction. The woman’s cool was unshakeable; it was hard to believe that she had somehow produced Ben. “I’m surprised to hear you defending the poor in the Rim territories. You don’t seem like the type of man to champion the oppressed.”

“The victims of my enemy are my friends,” Hux replied, amending the old adage to fit the current conversation.

“I would hardly call the Outer Rim sectors ‘victims’,” Organa countered. “They’ve had many opportunities to join the Republic, but they’ve elected instead to maintain their lawless existences, or worse, to actively work against what we’ve built. Your First Order was only the worst of the Imperial factions, but by far not the only one.” She regarded him for a moment. “I’m surprised you didn’t flee to join another when the Order was destroyed.”

Hux met her gaze, refusing to show any sort of weakness that she could exploit. “Perhaps none of the other factions had the goals and manpower to match my own objectives,” he said.

“And so instead of building another faction up to the strength you needed, you abandoned your ambitions completely?” Organa asked. “I find that surprising.”

Hux was hardly going to admit that he’d tried to get in with several of the other Imperial factions and been turned away or chased out. Even years later, it was galling and infuriating that those idiots hadn’t realized what he’d been offering them.

“I could have ruled the galaxy,” he said.

She smiled slightly, amused at something that he didn’t understand. “But instead you sit here, on a beach on a planet in the middle of nowhere, living with my son, working for Talon Karrde and entertaining yourself with intelligence from the Weekly Rim Report.” Hux flushed with embarrassment – had she seen his data pad? Had Ben mentioned it? It hardly mattered. “You must love him.”

“Do you know the person you become when you lose everything?” Hux asked. “When literally everything is ripped from you? When you look in the mirror and everything you used to define yourself is suddenly gone?”

Organa stared at him, and for a moment he thought she was going to get up and strike him. “I know,” she murmured.

Hux finally looked away, remembering belatedly that she’d once been a princess of Alderaan and watched as it was destroyed before her very eyes. “I’m getting old, and galactic domination is a young man’s game,” he said grouchily. “But someday, someone will ruin your Republic, and you’ll all realize I was right.”

Organa shook her head. “That’s what you don’t understand. The Republic shouldn’t have to be destroyed from the outside; democratic systems are flexible. If you know so well how things should be run, you should have tried to improve things from within. Did billions really have to die for you to achieve your vision of a well-run society?”

Ben entered the kitchen from the outside door and Hux glanced up and met his gaze. Organa had her back to him, although she probably knew he was there through the Force. Despite Ben’s presence, Hux couldn’t help but continue, especially since she’d brought up the forbidden topic of the Hosnian system.

“Your government relies inherently on the stupidity of your average sentient,” he countered. “Democracy caters to the lowest common denominator. The Senate—“

Ben groaned audibly. “Did you really have to get him on the topic of democracy?” It was, oddly, the most casual sentence that Hux had ever seen him speak around his mother.

Organa glanced fondly over at Ben and then looked back at Hux again, a small, sad smile on her face. She stood and turned to close the distance between her and Ben. “You’re your father’s son,” she murmured, pressing her palm against Ben’s cheek. “I’m so glad to see you happy.” Ben froze, his eyes wide as he stared at Hux over his mother’s shoulder. Hux didn’t know what to do, how to support him, and he felt like an interloper even though Ben couldn’t seem to drag his eyes away from him, like Hux was his only lifeline to prevent himself from drowning in the guilt that always came along with seeing his family.

Organa moved away a moment later, throwing a glance back at Hux before leaving the kitchen and going outside. Glancing back out the window, Hux watched her join the rest of the family and seat herself on the beach next to Skywalker.

Ben was still standing straight, stunned, where she’d left him. Hux watched him warily, not sure what sort of emotional reaction was coming; Ben was still unpredictable at times, although far better than he’d ever been as Kylo Ren. When Ben did finally move, it was sudden. He crossed the space between himself and Hux in several of his long strides and wrapped his arms around Hux, burying his face in Hux’s neck. Hux could feel the warm wetness of tears against his skin, and he awkwardly stroked Ben’s hair and held him.

He wasn’t ever going to be very good at being comforting, but Ben understood that.

“Why does she keep bringing up my father?” Ben asked finally, his voice cracking slightly. “Does she want me to live that horrible moment over and over for the rest of my life?”

Hux prided himself on being far better at reading people than Ben, and he chose his next words carefully. “I don’t think she’s trying to make you feel more guilt. I think she’s trying to absolve you of it.”

Ben pulled out of their embrace and stared at him; Hux schooled his face into a neutral expression, not wanting to accidentally make this outburst worse. “Do you really think so?”

“She smiles and tells you she’s proud of you,” Hux reminded him. “That doesn’t come from a place of anger.”

Ben wiped his tears and gave him a shaky smile. Hux wondered what it said about his life that he was now an expert on defusing Ben Solo’s emotional outbursts. His former self would have _despaired_.

Pushed by an emotion he couldn’t quite name, he leaned in and kissed Ben far more gently than normal, cupping his face with his hands and stroking along his jawline as their mouths moved together.

“Seriously?” said Rey’s voice from behind them. “Why do I always walk in on you two making out?”

* * *

Ben’s family was two days into their visit when Mara Jade joined them, rounding out the party. She elected to fly them down to the southern islands to look at old alien ruins built at a similar time to when Palpatine’s former base had been constructed; there was an archaeological site excavating the area, and Karrde was trafficking in stolen goods from the area, providing Mara with connections.

Ben hoped he and Hux would have a nice, quiet day to laze around in bed with his family on a field trip, but a tingling in his Force senses was suggesting otherwise. He groaned and rolled away from Hux’s embrace, squinting into the glare from the wide bay windows.

“What is it?” Hux muttered into the pillow. His hair flared across the pillow and caught the sunlight like a crown, and Ben couldn’t help himself and leaned over fondly to mouth a wet kiss to the back of Hux’s neck. Hux sighed contentedly in the way that he only did when half asleep, and Ben grinned.

The Force gave a twinge again just as Ben began to kiss his way down Hux’s spine, and he pulled away with a grumble, massaging his temples.

“Something’s going on with the Force,” said Ben.

“This entire visit,” Hux growled, “is an exercise in sexual frustration. Your family is forbidden back here.”

“I don’t think it’s my family, this time,” Ben replied, rubbing soothing circles along the freckled skin of Hux’s back. “The children are up to something.”

This time, Hux was the one to groan, rolling over onto his back and throwing an arm across his face to block the sunlight. “Of course they are,” he said. “It’s been four months since Kalla’s set anything on fire; they’re due.”

Hux was right and Ben knew it. He pulled himself out of bed and yanked on a pair of comfortable pants and a sleep shirt, finger-combing his hair to presentable. He lumbered out of the bedroom and through the kitchen, stopping on the beach to take in a deep breath of sea air before making his way down to the annex, which was much quieter without his family present. The Force told him that his three apprentices were awake, all gathered together in the central common area.

It was never a good sign when they were awake voluntarily before noon. Ben pushed his way through the door and stopped in the common area, where the three of them were gathered around the large holoscreen that Hux used for his courses in strategy.

Ben wished that he’d mastered the single raised eyebrow that Hux was so proficient at. “What are you doing?” he asked.

His three students whirled guiltily around to face him, wearing matching expressions of alarm. They glanced at one another before Mazhi was the first to collect her wits and speak. “Master Skywalker is unsure if he made the right choice in sending us to you,” she said.

Ben hadn’t picked this up himself, but it hurt all the same. Mazhi’s telepathic affinity for the Force was greater than Ben’s ever had been, and he had no doubt that she’d picked up such a thought from his uncle.

“We’re going to prove to him that he’s wrong,” Kalla added fiercely, and Ben stared at her in shock.

“What?” he asked, his voice faint. Three determined teenaged faces stared back at him, looking like they were ready to fight the world to defend his honor as a teacher. Were these the same students who always pushed back against him, who fought him at every turn and refused to trust him even a little bit?  “You’re going to—what?”

“Skywalker had already decided that we were lost causes,” Bran said flatly. “He doesn’t get it. Mazhi had it the worst since she could read his thoughts, but we all knew that he thought we were dangerous and would never become Jedi.” Ben remembered getting that sense off of Luke himself, so many years ago. Back then, his uncle had had an almost inexhaustible well of hope for everyone, but Ben had scared him silly.

After Ben, Luke no longer relentlessly believed in all of his students. No one could really blame him. The last time he’d trusted and believed in the darkest of his pupils, all the others had been slaughtered.

Ben wondered, deep in his heart, if someday he would face the same challenge – a student who would fall, kill the others, and destroy him. He pushed it out of his mind. If it happened, it would be the Force balancing itself out after his own teenaged crimes.

His students were still speaking. “You’re different. You aren’t afraid of us,” said Mazhi.

“You honestly believe that our anger and pain and frustration can be used, not avoided,” Kalla added. “You don’t ask us to repress parts of ourselves. You _listen_ to us.” The three of them glanced at each other. “So we’re going to show Skywalker what you’ve done.”

Still touched, Ben didn’t feel the apprehension that usually came over him when the kids had a scheme. “And how are you going to do that?” he asked instead.

“We’re going to make him fight a vornskr without the Force,” said Kalla.

“And then we’re going to show how _we_ can do that,” Bran added proudly.

Maybe his pupils still had some ways to go.

“Hey,” said Ben, sitting himself on the uncomfortable couch that they’d put in the common area and looking at all three of them seriously. “I really appreciate that you guys want to show Master Skywalker that he was wrong about me, but maybe this isn’t the way to do it, okay?”

Their faces fell. “What if he goes back to Chandrila and doesn’t change his mind?” Mazhi asked worriedly.

Ben had never felt as much like an actual adult who had learned from his life experiences as he did in that moment. “So what if he does?” he asked. “It doesn’t change the work we’ve done here. It doesn’t take away how incredible all of you have become at balancing the Force. Why do you care what Master Skywalker thinks?”

The teens looked at each other, clearly flummoxed by this argument. “But he’s _wrong_ ,” Kalla insisted.

“I know,” said Ben. “And _you_ know. And that’s all that matters, okay? People are going to think untrue, wrong things about you all through your life. Here’s another lesson: you have to learn how to let it happen without always needing to prove them wrong. If you put too much energy into trying to prove yourself to people, you’re living for them, not yourself.” It still shocked him, sometimes, that occasionally he actually sounded wise.

“So what you’re saying,” Bran said slowly, “is that if we try to prove to Master Skywalker that you’re actually good at this, we’re actually letting him win?”

It was close enough. “Yes,” said Ben. Sometimes it felt like dealing with three tiny Huxes, who all saw the world through self-centered, logical terms and determined their own ideas of morality without input from society. Thankfully, he’d spent the good part of a year learning how to understand Hux’s own thought process, and he was decent at translating that to talk to the children as well.

“Will you go back to bed now?” Ben asked pleadingly. “It’s a beautiful day and my family won’t be back until later. We should take advantage of this peace and quiet.”

Kalla ran over to the window and glanced out at the wide blue sky. “It _is_ beautiful,” she declared. “You know what that means?”

“No,” said Ben, seeing exactly where this was going.

“Beach day!” Bran shouted.

“ _No_ ,” said Ben again, but they were all off, running back to their rooms, leaving him alone in the common area. He sighed. So much for going back to bed.

* * *

“You’re looking good, General Genocide,” said Mara Jade, glancing Hux over. “Joining the Skywalker clan seems to have suited you.” The humid evening air was warm around them, the sky painted with bright stars, and upbeat tropical music played from Rey’s datapad as they relaxed and drank odd cocktails on the beach. It was the last evening of this family vacation, thank the Force, and Hux was just trying to stay mostly out of everyone’s way. 

“Don’t call me that,” Hux said. “And you have no idea what joining the Skywalker clan has done to me.” He pinched the bridge of his nose as though to demonstrate the colossal headache the entire affair gave him.

“You’ll get used to it. Or you’ll have a kid and get scared and run away,” Mara told him. “I don’t recommend that one, though. I had a lot of regrets.” Her eyes went far away and kind of sad. “Sometimes I think…would it have happened, if I’d stayed? Could I have stopped him?”

Hux’s gaze landed on Ben, who was drunk and thus far less guarded than he usually was around his family. His smile was wide and his features animated, and Hux’s heart seized more than he liked to admit.

“You’d have killed him,” Hux said flatly. “Let’s not kid ourselves. If it had been the life of one child, even your nephew, versus the lives of all the rest and your own daughter, you’d have put a blaster bolt between his eyes before he could even blink.”

Mara watched Hux for a long moment before nodding. “I probably would have,” she acknowledged.

“And then I’d never have met him, because he would have been dead,” Hux continued. “So in the end, I have to say, I’m very glad you ran away when you did.”

What was it about Skywalker gatherings that brought out all of these ridiculously heartfelt conversations, Hux wondered angrily. Their overly earnest natures? The fact that he and Mara Jade were more alike than they’d care to admit, right down to the color of their hair? The ridiculously-colored alcoholic beverage that Ben had pressed into his hands several hours before, and the two more that he’d downed since?

Ben was talking with Rey and her entourage about something or other, probably the children, making wild hand gestures and laughing. Hux tried to imagine Kylo Ren doing the same while they were on the Finalizer and hit cognitive dissonance. Sometimes, his entire life felt like a bizarre joke with Kylo Ren as the punchline.

Ben suddenly caught him staring and gave him a wink and a huge, unguarded grin.

“I have to go,” said Hux. “But I’m glad we had this talk. If you ever harm one hair on Ben Solo’s head now, I’ll have to kill you.”

“As long as you don’t mess with Skywalker, I won’t mess with your boy,” Mara said. “It’s a deal.”

Hux was absolutely not going to ask. He was not going to play matchmaker. Once he had run a starship the size of a small city; he was not going to fall even further from grace than he already had.

“Good,” he said. “Enjoy the party.” He handed her the last of his disgustingly vile drink and wandered past Ben’s mother and uncle sitting together, drinking and reminiscing, to join Ben and the others.

Ben had clearly been drinking more than usual, and he slung an arm over Hux’s shoulders immediately. “This guy,” he said to Rey.

“Yes, I see him,” Rey said, her mouth twitching like she was trying not to smile. Dameron and stormtrooper, who had been blatantly flirting with each other all night, cast glances at each other.

“This guy,” said Ben again, softer, not bothering to continue his thought. Hux didn’t really need him to, anyway; his body was warm where it pressed against Hux’s own, his arm was a comfortable weight, and he was really quite stunning with his cheeks pinked and his eyes bright.

Hux was actually surprised to find himself having fun.

Ben grinned so widely that Hux wondered if he’d caught that thought. A twinkle in his eye, Ben leaned down and gave Hux a sloppy, affectionate kiss, and as Hux kissed him back, he heard Rey groan “seriously?” He broke away from Ben again to raise an eyebrow at her.

“Have a problem, Skywalker?” he asked.

“Yes, Brendol,” said Rey. “Can’t you two keep your hands off each other for two seconds? This is ridiculous.”

“You came into our house without knocking,” Hux pointed out. “Twice.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Ben laughed, ruffling Hux’s hair (which he _hated_ ). “This wasn’t as much of a disaster as it could have been,” Ben acknowledged.

“Just you wait until the children find the leftover alcohol from tonight,” Hux muttered.

“Admit it,” Ben said, poking him in the side. “You’ve actually enjoyed yourself. I felt it.”

“Never,” said Hux, but his heart wasn’t in it. The combination of the alcohol and Ben’s proximity and the starry look in Ben’s eyes wove some kind of spell around him, a spell he didn’t really like to name.

“Well, I have, far more than I expected,” Ben told Rey. He turned to her, his eyes bright, and Hux suddenly knew that Ben was going to do or say something that Hux was going to regret.

“We’ve had a great time as well,” Rey replied, smiling.

“You’re always welcome to return and stay with us whenever you need a vacation,” Ben told her affably, and there it was. “Our home is yours.”

“Don’t say that!” Rey laughed. “We’ll take you up on it.”

Hux could only stare at them both in horror. It was probably time to lock himself in his room with another bottle of wine.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Come hang out with me on [tumblr](http://saucy-kate.tumblr.com/).


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